Romanian Investor Owes $2.7 Million in Foreign Banking Penalties

A Romanian businessman who failed to report his interests in foreign bank accounts may be hit with larger penalties after the Fifth Circuit held that a lower court was wrong to reduce his assessment from $2.72 million to $50,000.

Alexandru Bittner, who was naturalized in 1987 and later returned to Romania to become an inventor and businessman, wasn’t aware that he had to report his interests in foreign accounts as a U.S. citizen. He therefore failed to file the proper disclosures on annual FBAR forms, as required by the Bank Secrecy Act, which resulted in $2.72 million in civil penalties, ...